


Kiss of Life

by ThornyHedge



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit (2012) RPF
Genre: M/M, clueless!Richard, hurt!Aidan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-29
Updated: 2013-03-29
Packaged: 2017-12-06 20:16:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/739684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThornyHedge/pseuds/ThornyHedge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An anonymous Hobbit Kink Meme Fill: </p><p>"The first time their lips met wasn't supposed to be while giving Aidan mouth-to-mouth."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kiss of Life

It’s 6:30 a.m. Aidan sits astride the hips of a very naked Richard Armitage, head thrown back in ecstasy, riding his cock like he’s in a Western. Richard’s blue eyes are sleepy, but his large hands are splayed possessively over Aidan’s hip bones, guiding him.

“Ah, god!” Aidan gasps, angling his hips just so, allowing Richard’s dick to repeatedly hit the spot that makes sparks dance through him. He’s smart enough not to be loud about it. Martin and Ian’s trailers nearly touch Richard’s and the last thing they need to wake up to is his caterwauling.

Aidan, desperate for more contact, leans down and slots his body over Richard’s warm chest, leaning in to claim his mouth. Richard turns his head away, giving Aidan access to his neck instead, which Aidan goes after in very Mitchell-esque fashion. 

“C-careful with the marks,” Richard cautions quietly. 

Aidan stills, suddenly feeling very shut out. He huffs in annoyance.

“What is it?” Richard gently squeezes Aidan’s left hip.

“Are you ever going to just let me _kiss_ you?” the younger actor asks, and not for the first time. “It’s been two months, Rich. I love—”

Richard raises a hand to Aidan’s mouth, silencing him with two fingers. “We agreed,” the blue-eyed actor reminds him. “We agreed no kissing on the mouth, and we agreed no ‘I love yous.””

“We did agree,” Aidan concedes. “But that was when we were just… fucking,” he sighed. “It’s been more than that for me for awhile now,” he admits. 

“It’s a wonderful bit of fun we’re having,” Richard reminds him. “But, Aidan, that’s all it is. We’ll go our separate ways when filming ends. We both agreed—we’re just friends letting off steam together. Right?”

Aidan nods, resigned. “I-I’m going to go back to my trailer, take a shower before make-up,” he says quietly, slipping off Richard’s softening dick with a noticeable wince. “I get it, Rich. I do,” he says, gathering his clothing and holding it against his chest. “I’m a kid. I can’t possibly understand what love or commitment entail.” He goes to the trailer’s small bathroom to get dressed, leaving Richard alone in the chilly bedroom.

“Aidan,” Richard calls after him. “Don’t go away angry, please.”

“Well, I _am_ angry,” Aidan says, when he finally exits the bathroom, fully clothed. His eyes are red-rimmed. “But I’m sure I can find a way to use it in my acting.” He raises a hand in parting and leaves in silence.

Richard lets out a long pent-up sigh when the trailer door latches behind him.

* * *

Aidan is cold when he sees Richard two hours later. The younger man pretends he’s intently interested in the story Adam Brown’s telling him over a bagel and coffee. Richard tries to meet his eyes, but Aidan skillfully avoids him. 

No one notices, of course. It’s all part of the _agreement._ No one at the studio knows they’re “friends with benefits.” Richard desperately hopes it can stay that way. He hopes Aidan comes to his senses. Of course, he also hopes Aidan comes to his trailer that evening, and comes to his bed, and comes while Richard is fucking him into the mattress…

He slams his tray down in annoyance as he sits down at a table with Jed and Stephen. 

“Careful, mate,” Jed cautions. “You’ve spilled your tea.”

Frowning, Richard gets up to fetch some extra napkins and another mug of tea.

“Thorin’s joined us earlier than usual today,” he hears Stephen mutter under his breath as he walks away.

* * *

The Sluice, as Peter affectionately called the set they were filming on, was just that… a twisting corridor of guided water on sound stage F down which barrels (one Dwarf in each) would float—sometimes more gently than others. 

Bilbo and the Dwarves were all wearing what they referred to as their _drowned rat_ wigs and their clothing was in all states of disarray from their stay at the Mirkwood Elves prison. Most of them also didn’t carry weapons. 

Fili’s hair, normally so neatly braided, clipped and shining, looked like Charles Manson’s as he chatted with technology head Dion Hartley about the wireless camera they’d had newly-crafted for filming on the surface of the water. Dean was fascinated by the gigantic lens and gave Richard a thumb’s up as he passed them to climb into his barrel. Richard acknowledged him with a small smile.

Aidan was already in the barrel behind Richard’s, dark hair mussed, dirt and stubble playing havoc with his normally babyish face. 

“Water’s warmer than I thought it might be,” Richard tried to make conversation. 

Aidan merely nodded, then brightened as Dean joined them. 

“It could be a few minutes until we get started,” Dean grinned. “They’re having trouble getting Bombur into his barrel.” He caught his friend’s eye. “You all right then, Aid?”

“This barrel seems a bit unstable,” the dark-haired actor told him. “Watch how easily it tips,” he swung his body forward and backwards, dipping the vessel precariously to and fro. 

“Well, of course it’s unstable if you’re going to act like that,” Dean scoffed, then tried to get his barrel to tip in the same manner. It only moved back and forth slightly. “Hrmph,” he pouted. “Clearly you got the Barrel o’ Fun, Turner.”

“It’s all in the upper body,” Aidan told him, flashing his patented wide smile, which Dean readily returned.

“My feet are soggy,” Adam announced to no one in particular. “They were all pruney last night when I got home to my trailer.”

“Last day in the barrels!” Jackson announced to them all, having overheard Adam’s lament. “At least until we take it outside when it gets warmer in a few weeks. But these are the true action shots,” he reminded them. “Don’t put your hands into the water once we get the sluice moving at full speed. There is real danger of having your fingers crushed. Keep them on the edges of the barrels, or in the air.”

Aidan jokingly made shooting motions at Adam, who slithered down inside his barrel, clutching his chest as if hit by imaginary bullets. 

“Your barrels _will_ jostle around, spin a bit, even hit the edges of the sluice, sometimes quite hard,” Peter continued. “Keep a wide stance with your feet and don’t tip them. Yes, Kili, I’m talking to you.” A chorus of laughter followed.

“I’m telling you, I’ve got a defective barrel,” Aidan insisted. Dean rolled his twinkling blue eyes in response.

“I’m sure this’ll require more than a few takes,” Peter assured them all. “So get comfortable… and have fun.”

Richard tried again to catch Aidan’s eyes and offer him some reassurance, but any sense of humor Aidan may have had quickly disappeared when Richard leaned over and said quietly, “Are you all right?”

Aidan just raised his chin and met him with Kili’s innocent wide-eyed smile, “Of course, _Uncle,_ ” he said lightly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Good lad,” Richard’s gaze softened, laying his hand over Aidan’s. Aidan pulled the extremity away as if it had been burned. 

“Keep your hands on your own barrel,” he reminded Richard. 

“Sluice on!” Peter called across the set. A loud generator powered up and moments later the waters around them began to churn. “When I release the gate, your barrels are going to move. Keep your heads and steady on,” he told the bobbing actors.

Richard set his jaw grimly and put his hands on the edges of his own barrel. He turned around one more time as his barrel, at the head of the pack, started to pull away from Aidan’s. “Aidan,” he said over the rushing sound of the water, “I’m sorry.”

Aidan’s eyes softened and he sighed sadly as Richard floated on ahead.

* * *

Riding in the barrels turned out to be great fun. Several times, Richard had to suppress a smile that threatened to burst through his kingly, concerned demeanor. Catching glimpses at his cast mates, he could see they were all similarly afflicted. He could tell Dean was barely containing a shout of “Yeehaw” as they rounded a bend and their barrels slammed together. 

Then Richard noticed Aidan. His face wore a look of sheer terror as he clung tightly to the sides of his barrel—so tightly, in fact, that the palms of his prosthetic hands appeared to have torn. His face was pale under his mop of wet hair. Richard soon saw why. They rounded another turn and Kili’s barrel nearly turned on its side after the impact, threatening to toss Aidan out into the churning water. Aidan looked terrified. 

“Kili!” Richard called out protectively, though it wasn’t scripted. “Steady on!”

Aidan met his eyes and locked on them, nodding tightly. The dark orbs widened as he noticed the drop behind Richard. Seconds later, Richard’s barrel picked up speed as it slid down a four foot section of “rapids.” When Aidan’s barrel hit the same patch, it too sped up, but also tipped forward threateningly. Aidan threw his slight weight backwards and kept his footing, one hand reaching up to cradle the ribs that had smacked against the side of the vessel when it tilted.

Richard began to believe that Aidan did, indeed, have a defective barrel. Unfortunately, Richard had little more time to think about Aidan’s predicament, as he rounded another turn, and his own barrel spun madly. He let out an angry cry and tried to catch sight of Aidan. Aidan’s barrel struck the curve in the sluice wall and the vessel immediately rebounded and tipped, dumping Aidan head-first into the rushing water. 

Richard was relieved when Aidan’s dark head popped to the surface quickly and he gasped for breath, pushing a curtain of hair from his face. The water was shallow, only a few feet deep. It was, however, rushing with great speed and seven barrels full of Dwarf were bearing down on Aidan as he tried to get his feet under him. Jed and James’ barrels narrowly missed hitting Aidan, as he dodged them.

“Oh my god!” Dean cried out as his barrel collided with Richard’s again. “He fell out!” Dean was struggling foolishly to climb out of his own barrel, and failing.

“Stop the sluice!” Richard bellowed as loudly as he could, hoping someone heard. “Turn it off, Peter!” Those in hearing range soon picked up the cry.

Ken and Graham bobbed past Aidan, faces shocked. Graham tried to reach for the flailing actor, but halted when his barrel started to tip dangerously. Adam’s barrel missed Aidan’s head by centimeters. 

Another drop lay ahead and Aidan followed Adam’s barrel down over it, still managing to keep his head above water. What he couldn’t avoid, however, was his body slamming into the curved wall at the bottom of the drop. It knocked the wind out of him, and Adam cried out in dismay as Aidan’s head collided with the wooden edge at the top of the sluice. Adam saw blood on the surface of the water and Aidan floundered weakly, dazed by the impact.

Adam tried to leap out of his own vessel and help his friend, but his small frame wouldn’t allow him to tip his barrel at all to escape. Then, William and Stephen’s barrels rounded the curve behind Aidan. Stephen’s eyes were huge as Bombur’s heavy barrel skirted around Aidan. William’s, however, struck the injured brunet full force in the side of his head. William cried out and reached for Aidan as he spun past. Their fingers brushed as Aidan slipped below the surface of the water and didn’t come back up. 

Richard’s barrel reached the end of the sluice just as a stage hand managed to get the bloody thing turned off. Everything had spun out of control so quickly! He reached up a hand to be helped from his barrel and when he was on solid ground, ran back along the path of the sluice looking for Aidan. Dean was close behind. The water was slowing and Richard counted the queue of barrels as they passed… 10, 11… 

“My barrel hit him!” William hollered to the two of them. “I didn’t see him there in the water!” William pointed behind him in the churning spray. 

At last, Richard spotted Aidan, visible only as a brown figure floating in the water. He was clearly unconscious, a halo of hair and clothing bobbing around him. 

“The barrels are all past,” Dean told Richard. “I’m going in. I’ll hand him up to you.”

Richard had no time to argue as Dean leapt into the slowing water, swam to Aidan and turned him onto his back. The blond struggled with Aidan’s weight, but was able to bring him toward Richard in under 30 seconds. Thankfully, the water had by then stopped moving. Dean boosted Aidan a bit and Richard, with Jed’s help, pulled Aidan’s insensate form up onto the concrete and positioned him gingerly on his back.

Aidan was bleeding sluggishly from the temple. Richard’s trembling hand at Aidan’s neck revealed a pulse, but Aidan wasn’t breathing. Jed put a hand beneath Aidan’s neck and tilted his head back. 

“Do you know CPR, mate?” he asked Richard, eyes wide.

“Yes,” Richard affirmed. “Make sure someone calls for an ambulance, Jed,” Richard’s voice broke and he turned back to Aidan, smoothing messy dark hair away from the younger actor’s face. “Oh, Aidan,” Richard sighed. “Hang in there. I’ve got you.” 

Richard pinched Aidan’s nose shut and leaned over his secret love, slotting his mouth over Aidan’s and blowing forcefully until he saw Aidan’s chest rise. He repeated the action, then lowered his ear to Aidan’s nose to listen for a sign that he was breathing. Nothing happened. His own chest threatening to close up on him, Richard lowered his mouth over Aidan’s again. 

Richard was in a full-blown panic. The first time their lips met wasn't supposed to be while giving Aidan mouth-to-mouth! After the third round, he broke, “C’mon, Aidan,” he coaxed, as if Aidan could actually hear him. “Breathe for me.” Tears were running down his face, and he bent back to the task of saving Aidan’s life.

The fifth time Richard repeated the sequence, Aidan’s body responded with a gasp and a great gurgle of water. With a hoarse cry of relief, Richard rolled Aidan quickly but gently to his side as the younger actor spat up what seemed like gallons of water. Dean had finally gotten out of the water and quickly moved in to his friend’s side. 

“Aid!” he cried out, kneeling and cupping Aidan’s face in relief. “Oh, thank God! Thank God!”

Aidan’s trembling hand came up to weakly clasp Dean’s.

“Thank Richard,” Jed nodded at the trembling Brit. “He did mouth-to-mouth, saved the lad’s life.”

Dean offered Richard a relieved, grateful smile. “Aid, can you talk?” He ran a soothing hand along Aidan’s arm.

Aidan coughed weakly and cleared his throat, looking Dean in the eyes. “I told you that barrel was defective,” he croaked.

Dean let out a half-laugh, half-sob and leaned down to bury his face in Aidan’s shoulder. “I was so scared,” Dean told him, so that only Aidan, Jed and Richard could hear. “I can’t lose you, Aid!” Dean confessed, laying a gentle kiss to Aidan’s forehead. Aidan’s drooping eyes were full of confusion. 

“D-dean?” the brunet asked weakly “What are you—”

“Shh,” Dean wiped away a tear running down his own face. “You should just rest and take it easy. We called an ambulance for you.”

“No! No hospital!” Aidan insisted, starting to panic.

“Your head’s bleeding, love, and you just almost died,” Dean said soothingly, pulling Aidan into his arms. “Richard gave you the kiss of life. I’m so jealous.”

“Y-you did?” Aidan quietly asked Richard. 

Richard could only nod. “Aidan, I—”

“Yes?” Aidan reached for his hand.

“I’m going to send Dean along to the hospital with you, if that’s all right,” Richard said, voice tight, squeezing Aidan’s hand briefly before gently laying it back down. “I get the feeling I couldn’t stop him from going if I tried.”

“I’m not leaving your side,” Dean insisted, pulling Aidan’s hand into his own. He brought it to his lips and kissed it. “Promise.”

Aidan swallowed back tears of pain and pleasant surprise, burying his face in Dean’s chest.

As the ambulance rolled away, Richard, despite the gnawing ache in his heart, knew he had done the right thing.


End file.
